2019 -- S 0118

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LC000688

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THAT THE OFFICE OF THE POSTSECONDARY

COMMISSIONER FORM A WORK GROUP TO CONDUCT A THOROUGH REVIEW INTO

HOW RHODE ISLAND CAN PROTECT STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS

     Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Satchell, Sheehan, Lawson, and Metts

     Date Introduced: January 24, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Education

     WHEREAS, Student loan debt in the United States totals approximately $1.5 trillion; and

     WHEREAS, The Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program is a bank-based

federal loan program that is held by the Department of Education or guaranty agencies; and

     WHEREAS, Nearly 7 million people with $162 billion in FFEL loans are held by

guaranty agencies and almost half of the outstanding defaulted student debt is from the FFEL

program; and

     WHEREAS, According to a report from the Consumer Federation of America, millions

of borrowers defaulted on their federal student loans in 2016, an increase of about fourteen

percent from 2015; and

     WHEREAS, The United States Department of Education has removed protections for

student loan borrowers, including barring debt collectors from charging high fees, up to sixteen

percent of the principal and accrued interest, on past-due loans; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island should proactively find state solutions for student loan

borrowers in Rhode Island because of the rollback of protections that such borrowers were

afforded by the federal government; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby respectfully requests that the Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner form a work

group to conduct a thorough review into how Rhode Island can protect student loan borrowers

and to make recommendations on or before January 15, 2020, to the President of the Rhode

Island Senate and to the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives regarding student

loan protections. Such recommendations should consider the best agency to provide those

protections, and necessary statutory and regulatory amendments. The work group should include

the Treasurer’s Office, the Office of the Attorney General, Rhode Island Student Loan Authority,

private student loan providers, members of the Rhode Island General Assembly, current and

former students with student loan debt, and other key stakeholders; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Peter Neronha, Attorney General; Seth

Magaziner, General Treasurer; Dr. Brenda Dann-Messier, Commissioner of Postsecondary

Education; Tim DelGiudice, Chair of the Council on Postsecondary Education; and Charles E.

Kelley, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority.

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